Phillies sign a former Yankees pitcher to minor-league deal

The Phillies have signed former New York Yankees and San Diego Padres right-handed pitcher Bryan Mitchell to a minor-league deal, according to the team’s website.

Mitchell, 29, last appeared in an MLB game on Sept. 24, 2018, when he nearly threw a complete-game shutout against the San Francisco Giants as a member of the Padres. His brilliant performance in the final game, however, is not indicative of the season he had as he posted a 5.42 ERA in 73 innings pitched in 2018. He previously spent four seasons in New York under current Phillies manager Joe Girardi before being traded to San Diego in the Chase Headley deal.

He spent the majority of the 2019 season in Triple-A and struggled there as well, posting an 8.68 ERA in 57 innings pitched. The Chicago White Sox signed him to a minor-league deal in 2020 and spent the shortened season at the team’s alternate site.

Roughly a third of Mitchell’s 64 MLB appearances have been starts, so it’ll be interesting to see whether the Phillies intend to stretch him out and have him compete to be a long reliever out of the bullpen. He’ll be competing with a few other spring training invitees as well as some young pitchers and waiver claims that are currently on the 40-man roster.

The team has so far signed Neftali Feliz, Michael Ynoa, Aneurys Zabala and David Paulino to minor-league deals. They also claimed right-handed pitchers Ian Hamilton and Johan Quezada off waivers from the Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins respectively. Left-handed pitchers Kyle Dohy, Damon Jones, Bailey Falter and right-handed pitcher Francisco Morales were all elevated to the 40-man roster earlier this offseason to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. While Morales is a few years away, Dohy, Jones and Falter could all have a realistic chance of making the Opening Day roster with an impressive spring training.

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